Here.
Why in 2015 is there still this notion that corporations are ever Good Samaritans for any reason other than it benefits them? Of course they have an ulterior motive, of course it all comes down to money. That’s the way corporations work, they don’t have a conscience. Even if they did it would be about maximizing profits for their shareholders, even in legal terms. I don’t understand why there’s this underlying presumption that they’ll act otherwise.
This is the predominant view among capitalist fanboys of the West. What this commenter is saying is global corporations are the equivalent of Great White Sharks. Corporations can’t be blamed for all their nasty and ugly behavior anymore than a shark can. Corporations have to be evil to survive just like sharks have to kill viciously to live. If the corporation is disallowed from acting evil by the people (through state regulation, the state serving as the facade and organ of the people) then they will go out of business (die) just as sharks will die if you keep them from ripping seals into bloody messes.
Corporations have no conscience. Capitalist fanboys love to say this. Socialists say this too, but for different reasons. Humans who have no conscience are often called psychopaths. Probably most folks lacking a conscience are sociopathic to one degree or another. In shorthand, if you lack a conscience, you’re a psychopath.
Now look at what the fanboys say:
Corporations are gigantic sociopathic institutions.
The Left agrees, but the Left’s argument is that sociopaths suck in both individual and collective form both.
The fanboy has another argument. “Yes, corporations are sociopaths,” he says with a huge, somewhat sneering grin across his face. “And that is a wonderful thing!” In other words, sociopaths don’t suck; in fact, sociopaths are the greatest thing since Kleenex!
So under capitalism, whatever its benefits, the primary institutions of society, the corporations, are sociopathic entities and they are probably run by psychopaths too. In other words, capitalism not only normalizes sociopathy, which is bad enough, but it actually promotes and valorizes sociopathy, which is truly ugly.
The reason we Leftists think capitalism blows is because we doubt that the benefits of capitalism (and many of us agree there are benefits) are probably outweighed by:
- The moral vacuum it creates in society
- The fact that sociopathic entities run the society.
- The normalization and valorization of sociopathy.
Capitalists probably agree with us Lefties that capitalism causes 1-3 above, especially if you put a few drinks in them and get them behind a closed door.
It is just that capitalists think that the benefits of capitalism (you get lots of stuff) outweigh things like 1-3 above. In other words, it’s worth to sociopathicize all of society (there, I made up a word) just so we can all get stuff.
